Stars 3, Ducks 0: Kari Lehtonen made 37 saves en route to his first career postseason victory as host Dallas avoided a precarious situation by capturing Game 3 of its Western Conference first-round series.

Captain Jamie Benn, rookie Valeri Nichushkin and Ryan Garbutt scored for the Stars, who attempt to even the series when they host Game 4 on Wednesday. Lehtonen stopped 13 shots in the first period and 17 in the second as Dallas rebounded nicely from a pair of one-goal losses in Anaheim.

Frederik Andersen finished with 19 saves for the Pacific Division-champion Ducks, who went 0-for-6 on the power play. Anaheim played nearly the entire final two periods with five defensemen as Stephane Robidas suffered a fractured leg on his first shift of the middle session.

Dallas took a 1-0 lead just before the first intermission on Benn's second goal of the series. Andersen stopped Shawn Horcoff's shot from the bottom of the left faceoff circle, but Benn buried the rebound from the bottom of the right circle with 35 seconds remaining in the opening period.

The Stars maintained the one-goal advantage before Nichushkin doubled it late in the middle session. After taking a short backhand pass from Tyler Seguin, the 19-year-old Russian fired the puck between Andersen's pads from the top of the right circle with 2:45 left in the period.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Garbutt capped the scoring less than eight minutes into the third by burying the rebound of C Cody Eakin's shot from the doorstep. ... Robidas' first game in Dallas since being traded to the Ducks in March was one to forget as the 37-year-old suffered a fractured right leg in a collision with Garbutt in the opening minute of the second period. It is the same leg Robidas broke in a game against Chicago in November. ... Stars C Chris Mueller made his NHL playoff debut in place of LW Erik Cole, who missed the contest with an upper-body injury. ... Lehtonen had been 0-4 with a 4.58 goals-against average in his playoff career.